Monthly Archives: January 2012

On this episode Mark and Nathan discuss the comics and characters from the Star Wars expanded universe in 2011! And also howling wolves, the movie Saw and omnibuses vs omnibi. (I’m only partially kidding.)

They look forward to new series of comics, and enjoyed learning new things about characters.

All sorts of comics get discussed!

How do different art styles affect comics? And a battle between a Hutt and a Jedi!? Do you like Hutts being in the Star Wars universe?

How do tie-in comics and novels affect each other, and the characters and stories involved?

How do characters and your ability to relate to them affect comics?

Should characters fall to the Dark Side, and stay there? Not be redeemed?

James Arnold Taylor (JAT) has a versatile vocal range that has given him success in every facet of the Voice-Over Industry. He is one of the most sought after Voice-Actors in the business. You probably hear the voice of JAT all the time and have never known it! JAT is heard worldwide daily, from leading roles in summer blockbusters, starring roles in video games, voicing promos and trailers for national ad campaigns in TV, radio and internet and JAT even voice doubles for many of Hollywood’s biggest stars (like Ewan McGregor, Christian Bale and Johnny Depp) when they are unable to speak for themselves. Let’s not forget that JAT voices lead characters for the hit animated television series “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” (Obi-Wan Kenobi, Plo Koon) and “Johnny Test” (Johnny).

“Talking to Myself”: Now, with JAT’s one man show, “Talking To Myself”, you can see what you’ve only heard and watch James Arnold Taylor do over 150 voices live, while taking the audience on a journey into the fun, exciting and unknown world of voice-acting! You’ll also be inspired by his motivational message and discover courage within yourself to believe that you truly can achieve your dreams.

Hello and welcome back to yet another review of The Clone Wars here at the Star Wars Report! This week the Death Watch returns as Ahsoka tries to save season 3’s Lux Bonteri from the Mandalorian terrorist group led by Pre Vizsla after Lux seeks their help to kill Dooku in the episode A Friend in Need!

The episode starts out with negotiations on the neutral planet of Mandalore, and very quickly elevates into a shootout between Republic guards and Separatist commandos after an unexpected interruption from the returning character of Heroes on Both Sides, Lux Bonteri. Later we find that this was a plan to get the location of Count Dooku from his hologram transmission. Ahoska and Lux travel to the planet of Carlacc where Lux meets up with the Death Watch. This planet is absolutely stunning! The snow, the trees, the villages, the colors all have a very Feudal Japan feel about them, which is perfect considering this is an episode about a group who’s history is a culture that fights for honor, rather reminiscent of the Samurai.

When we first see the Mandalorian camp, I found it somewhat difficult to relate this new Death Watch to the Mandalorians of old, even the past generations of their own group at times. Yes, I can understand burning villages, and their ruthless grip over the planet, the Death Watch is the more barbaric and bloodthirsty of the Mandalorians, but the target practice on the defenseless droids just seemed too easy for these warriors. I couldn’t help but think that they were just thugs wearing Mandalorian armor. In my opinion, even the splinter group they are a part of would have seeked out a tougher challenge when training, or even when it’s just for fun. Mandalorians are about being the best, right? I’ll let it pass though since the droids play into the story later. And where these thuggish Mandalorian recruits might take away from the Mandalorian experience is immediately redeemed by our returning villain Pre Vizsla, who is a much darker, intimidating, and ruthless villain than when we last saw him. He is almost unrecognizable from the Concordian governor we met in season two. A complete visual transformation is included in some of the new attachments to his already incredible helmet, I love it!

Remember the droids the Death Watch had been using for “target practice”? While I was a little hesitant to accept the fact that the Mandalorians were lowering themselves in my opinion by shooting unarmed droids, I did like how it tied into the climax neatly, and we also see how much the battle droids, and R2, can put their alliances and differences behind them to help someone in need. But whether these droids were reprogrammed by the Mandalorians to erase their objectives, or really did forget that their duty was to march, shoot at clones, and die, is left to our imagination. You can’t deny that a battle between Mandalorians and a makeshift army of now re-armed battle droids was the coolest thing to come out of season 4 so far! Especially while Ahsoka and Pre Vizsla have an awesome lightsaber duel in the midst of the battle. That is what The Clone Wars is all about!

In the end, Ahsoka and Lux escape, after fighting off the Mandalorian excellently voiced by Katee Sackhoff of Battlestar Galactica and 24 fame. It all seemed to work out, and they can finally get to Coruscant, when Ahsoka finds out that Lux is going back. So not only did we witness cool battles, the destruction of villages, and the iron fist of the Death Watch, there is powerful emotion between our two main characters! There have been a lot of really good character relationship moments in this series (romantic and not), but Lux going back to face the Mandalorians after saving Ahsoka was one of the best of them all. Could he be going to certain death? Probably, but hopefully we’ll see him again. Even if we don’t, this ending was the perfect place to leave the Ahsoka/Lux relationship. Whether it’s for good, or for sometime in the distant future, we’ll just have to wait and see.

A Friend in Need was much more enjoyable than I expected. There aren’t too many one episode story arcs that can have that much character, action, story, and memorable moments packed into twenty two minutes. The designs were amazing, Pre Vizsla was as menacing as ever, and the cliffhanger for Lux and Ahsoka was truly great. I really can’t say enough about this episode and I can honestly say it’s one of my new favorites. Well done Clone Wars team! What did you think of this episode? Did you love it? Hate it? Somewhere in between? Leave a comment below, I’d love to hear your thoughts! Thanks for reading and may the Force be with you…always!

Happy Birthday John Jackson Miller! Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic – War #1 (of five) hit the stands yesterday! You remember that little comic strip right? Knights of the Old Republic? That comic set before the games of the same name. Well, after fifty issues it’s back, and back with a BANG!

Mandalorians! They are everywhere! And what’s worse, they are winning! This is what spurs many Jedi into defying the Jedi Council and ‘covertly’ going to war. Typical to the series, Zayne Carrick finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, and then has a series of similar encounters with fate. While the story is Zayne’s, he’s not the only one. The Mandalorians themselves were a huge part of the story. Maybe it’s the uniformity of the Neo-Crusader uniforms most of the Mando’ade are wearing, but they are a threat that has to be reckoned with. Though as one character shows us, not all ways of coming to a reckoning are morally right. Dallan Morvis, ahh Dorvis. Still a jerk. And for a first issue, they really drive that point home! He is certainly no hero! His type of personality is key to the events of this story, however, and The Mandalorian Wars were not pretty. Hence the reason so many Jedi falling to the dark side along with Revan and Malak.

We met Jedi fighting the good fight, most notable among them Dorjander Kace. I liked him, disliked him, and liked him again, and wound up LOVING HIM. This character’s journey seems to jump right off in this issue, and it allowed for some personal character philosophy for the reader with the different points of view on the issue confronting the galaxy…. What do we do with the Mandalorians?

Just when we think we have an idea of where events will carry history, we learn that the Mandalorians have sprung a trap. But that’s not the best part, which is…. *pause for dramatic effect* The Mandalorian Knights!

Yes, you heard me correctly.
Mandalorian….
Knights.

But these Rogue Jedi are none other than Kace and his group. Volunteers to the Mandalorian side, and now captors of Morvis’s crew, Morvis and Zayne. What’s it like to be drafted by the Mando’ade? Well we’re going to have to wait for issue two of this five part adventure to know for sure! One thing is certain, things have become a lot more interesting. This is one addition to the Star Wars Expanded Universe you will want to follow!